Packing Your Camera Bag for a Full Day Shoot: What Goes In and What Stays Home

The camera bag you pack the night before a shoot tells you a lot about the photographer. An overpacked bag is anxiety made physical — every 'what if' scenario represented by a lens or a flash head or a backup body you probably won't use. An underpacked bag is overconfidence. The right bag is a deliberate set of decisions about what the job actually requires, made calmly before you're standing on a clifftop in the wind trying to find the right cable.

Here's how I think about packing for a full event or commercial shoot day, and what my current kit looks like.

Start with the Brief, Not the Gear

Before anything goes in the bag, I read the brief again. What's being delivered — stills only, stills and video, social content alongside the main gallery? What's the venue — indoor controlled light, outdoor unpredictable, a mix of both? Is there a stage or podium that requires reach? Are there low-light environments that demand faster glass? The brief answers most of the gear questions before you open a single case.

The Primary Kit

Canon R6 Mark III as the primary body — always. Paired with the 24-70mm f/2.8 as the default lens on body. Two CFexpress Type B cards formatted fresh that morning. Three LP-E6NH batteries, all fully charged the night before. I carry the batteries loose in the top pocket of the bag rather than in the grip, so I can check charge levels quickly without pulling anything apart.

The Secondary Glass

A 70-200mm f/2.8 for reach at events with stages or large rooms. A 50mm f/1.2 or 85mm f/1.2 for portrait work where I want the background fully dissolved and the subject to be the only thing the eye can go to. I don't carry all three on every shoot — two lenses cover the vast majority of situations, and I'd rather make strong images with a focused kit than spend the day debating which lens to reach for.

The DJI Supplementary Kit

DJI Osmo Pocket 4 for any video run-and-gun work — charged, with the rotating screen confirmed working before I leave the house. DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro if there are outdoor elements or I need waterproof continuous coverage. DJI Mic Mini receiver already paired to both transmitters, 3.5mm cable coiled and rubber-banded to the receiver so I never open the bag and find them separated. Two spare transmitter batteries even though I almost never need them — the Mic Mini's battery life is long, but the one time I didn't have spares was the one time I needed them.

The Stuff Nobody Talks About

A lens cloth that isn't also wiping my phone screen. A small torch for finding things in the bag at dark venues. A carabiner clip for hanging the bag on the back of a chair when I need both hands free. Gaffer tape — a small roll, not the full thing — because something always needs securing. A granola bar and water, because a hungry photographer makes worse decisions than a well-fed one, and a full-day event doesn't always have a convenient lunch break.

What Stays Home

The second body, unless the brief explicitly requires redundancy or I'm covering something that cannot be re-shot under any circumstances. The studio flash kit, unless it's a studio day — on-location flash rigs change the energy of a room faster than anything else and should only come out when they're the right tool for the specific job. Every lens I'm not planning to use. Every cable I haven't pre-matched to a device. The bag should feel purposeful when you pick it up, not comprehensive. Comprehensive is for people who haven't thought it through.